Melchia Kutches

I do come from an artistic family in picturesque Woodstock area, New York.  My father dabbled in photography. My mother was an astrologer, created and painted her own decorative boxes, and made rock runes outlining astrological charts in the local areas of our home.  My Uncle is an active artist & portraitist in the NYC and New Jersey area.  He continues to be a great help in my own artistic path.

As a child my mother provided lots of art materials for both me and my sister.  As with most artists, I have always drawn.  I was fortunate to have a well-rounded art program in high school that included jewelry making, photography, advertising, drawing, and painting.  Around this time I even dabbled in graffiti.

I obtained an Associates degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City.  I majored in Fine Arts.  This is where I got formal learning and experience in drawing from live models, abstract painting from still lives, jewelry  design, oil, gouache, and acrylic painting, textile design and weaving, clay work, stone carving, silk screening, printmaking, lithography, photography to include development, and muralism.

I moved to San Francisco in 1988.  I met my future husband working retail. Creativity time was sparse for many years afterwards, but did try to fit in artistic time in between remodeling a fixer upper and gardening with painting in acrylic balsa wood boxes and oil painting.

I still reside with my husband in the house we bought all those years ago, but with our college aged child, too.